Wireless paging systems are generally well-known. In such systems, a calling party wishing to send a message ("page") to a person ("subscriber") using a paging receiver ("pager") simply dials a special phone number or a phone number and personal identification number ("PIN"). A call controller or message center then prompts the paging party to enter a numeric message (e.g., a telephone number, a special code, a pricing update, a PIN or the like) or an alphanumeric message (e.g. a limited text message restricted to 240 characters in length). Generally, input of a numeric message may be facilitated using a keypad on a touch tone telephone while the entry of an alphanumeric message requires the assistance of a human operator or a special entry terminal or computer with modem. Next, the call controller transmits the message to the subscriber by transmitting RF signals comprising the calling party's message and identification codes to the subscriber's if the pager is paged within the range of a paging transmitter. The pager then compares the received identification codes with internal codes; if the received codes and internal codes match, the pager visually displays to the subscriber the numeric or alphanumeric message.
These paging systems have many drawbacks. For example, if the message is a numeric message representing a phone number that the subscriber is to call, the subscriber generally needs to carry around extra or unwanted coins in the event the nearest or most accessible telephone is a public pay-phone. Moreover, in the event that the phone number is a long-distance phone call, an increased number of coins are required. Returning long-distance calls from inside a customer's business is also inconvenient or troublesome as calls made from these phones are typically billed to the customer in a monthly statement, and it is difficult if not impossible for the subscriber to know, at the time of the call, how much a single long distance phone call cost.
Another inconvenience encountered by the subscriber lies in the telephone number left by the calling party. It may be difficult for a subscriber to remember the calling party's phone number displayed on the pager long enough to return the call; the subscriber may easily forget the number if that person is not able to immediately return the phone call. Expensive pagers deal with this problem by including a memory within the pager that stores a plurality of numbers/messages for access by the subscriber at a later time. However, these pagers have a limited amount of storage space and, at the very least, require more expensive hardware to facilitate the storage of the phone numbers.
Subscribers may also choose not to answer each page as they come in but may wait and return, at one time, all the pages that have accumulated over a period of time. This can, depending on the number of incoming pages, require a lot of time dialing and entering numbers from the telephone keypad to return all the calls. Also, the possibility of a wrong number being dialed increases with the number of calls being placed.
Still further, many pagers do not have the capability of displaying alphanumeric messages, and the ones that do are limited by the length of the message that can be displayed.
Consequently, there exists a long-felt need for an improved paging system that overcomes the disadvantages associated with prior paging systems. The present invention allows the subscriber to place calls to phone numbers left by callers without requiring additional coins or concern about which phone is being charged for the call; eliminates the need for subscribers to remember phone numbers left by callers; increases the speed and accuracy in which phone numbers may be dialed by the subscriber; and increase the length of messages relayed to the subscriber.